John Rochester Thomas

Thomas was born in Rochester, New York on June 18, 1848, where he was educated in the city's schools until 1862, when his father's business failure obliged him to seek employment. He decided to become an architect and entered the office of Merwin Austin of Rochester, subsequently pursuing a university course under the direction of Martin Brewer Anderson, president of the University of Rochester. After spending some time studying the architecture of European countries, Thomas entered professional practice in Rochester in 1868. In 1877 he married Julia Hortense. They had four daughters and one son. ==Buildings==

Notable buildings designed by Thomas and erected between 1870 and 1880 include Sibley Hall of the University of Rochester, the buildings of the Rochester Theological Seminary, and the natural history museum, Brooks Hall, of the University of Virginia. In 1874 John Adams Dix, governor of New York, appointed him architect and sole commissioner for the erection of the state reformatory at Elmira, under a special law. This was the first instance in New York where this method of fixing individual responsibility had been tried. He was retained in office by Gov. Samuel J. Tilden, and saved the state about $1,000,000. The reformatory prison erected was considered a model the world over. Churches More than 150 churches have been erected from his designs. Some of his city churches, such as the now-demolished Calvary Baptist Church on West 57th Street and the Reformed Low Dutch Church of Harlem (1887; now Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist Church) on Lenox Avenue at 123rd Street in Harlem, New York, are highly picturesque. He also designed the First Baptist Church of Lynchburg, Virginia. Surrogate's Courthouse In February 1896 the Municipal Building Commission of New York City awarded first prize to Thomas, out of over 130 designs submitted to them from all over the world for a new municipal building, involving an outlay of $25,000,000. The prize included his employment as architect for the building. The terms of the competition were made purposely attractive in order to attract the best architectural talent, and were prepared by a body of experts composed of Richard M. Hunt, William R. Ware of Columbia College, and Edward H. Kendall. The state legislature subsequently forbade the city authorities to remove the old city hall, thus preventing the erection of the contemplated building. This action led to a proposal for the erection of a new Hall of Records on an adjoining site, budgeted at $5,000,000, intended in its construction and art details to be equal to the best that could be produced. ==Publications==

In November 1883 Thomas read a paper on "Church Architecture" before a conference of clergymen in Boston. This was followed in October 1891 by The History of Prison Architecture, read before the National Prison Association of the United States at its annual congress at Pittsburgh, which was universally adopted as the standard. An article on proposed legislation restricting the height of buildings in New York City was read before the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1896. ==Civic associations==

Thomas was a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce; the New York Yacht Club; the Architectural League; the Sculpture Society; the National Arts Club; the Manhattan Club, and the executive committee of the New York Prison Association. Although still a resident of New York City, he died at Westminster Park, New York, in the Thousand Islands, on August 28, 1901. ==References==